1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a plastic closure and container assembly which is made inexpensively with injection molding equipment, and more particularly, to a closure and container assembly having a tamper-evident band or tear-off strip which is removed the first time the closure is opened so as to provide a tamper-evident feature for the container and closure.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The present invention is particularly useful with a container having a security or Saturn ring comprising a ledge-like flange outwardly projecting from the container sidewall at a location immediately below the closure skirt so as to limit access to the lower edge of the skirt. Because the container security ring projects radially outwardly from the container wall beneath the closure skirt and has a larger diameter than that of the closure skirt, the closure skirt is effectively shielded from glancing blows during shipping and handling which might tend to dislodge the closure from the container. Further, the security ring makes it relatively difficult to obtain access to the closure skirt for intentional prying of the closure in an attempt to leave the tamper-evident band intact.
Paint containers of the above-described type are currently being provided in relatively large-volume (e.g., 5 gallon) sizes. An important feature of such containers is a ready indication of the container's previous opening, which would thereby expose the contents of the containers to possible contamination and premature drying. However, it will be appreciated that prior to opening, the closure must be securely engaged with the container, not only to provide an air-tight seal necessary to prevent deterioration such as premature hardening of the contents, but also to ensure that the contents remain sealed within the container so as to avoid leakage of the container contents during shipping and handling of the container.
Often the five gallon paint containers are desired to be closed after a part of the paint in the container is used to prevent drying of the paint in the container. Thus, it is desired that the closure be able to grip the container rim after removal of the tear strip so as to hold the closure onto the container.